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Steering Wheel Positioning Sensor

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Old Feb 11, 2019 | 10:49 PM
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Default Steering Wheel Positioning Sensor

I need to replace the steering wheel positioning sensor on a 2012. I did a search on Rock Auto and GM Parts Direct. Found dozens of "sensors", but none for the steering wheel positioning. I do not have a part #. Does anyone have a good source for me to check (other than the dealer) to purchase online or even possibly a part # if you''ve had to replace yours?

Thanks
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Old Feb 12, 2019 | 07:58 PM
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I don’t have a part # but you could check here or give them a call, they’re very helpful. www.chevynationparts.net
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Old Feb 13, 2019 | 12:07 AM
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Thanks very much. I looked on their website yesterday, but did not call since it was late at night. I'll give them a call tomorrow.

Thanks again
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Old Feb 13, 2019 | 05:01 AM
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had the same issue. contacted gene culley at cultrag. He's on the forums and very helpful!
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Old Feb 13, 2019 | 10:37 AM
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Originally Posted by rcharrison1
I need to replace the steering wheel positioning sensor on a 2012. I did a search on Rock Auto and GM Parts Direct. Found dozens of "sensors", but none for the steering wheel positioning. I do not have a part #. Does anyone have a good source for me to check (other than the dealer) to purchase online or even possibly a part # if you''ve had to replace yours?

Thanks
The dealership had issues with mine after changing out the balancer. As I understand it, in some time before my 2010 the sensor is in the rack, and isn’t serviceable. Apparently also is the wire and connector aren’t intended to be unplugged and re-plugged very much. So you might be looking at a new steering rack. I hope not.
Fortunately mine was warranted.
Mark

Last edited by CHEV AGAIN; Feb 13, 2019 at 10:46 AM.
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Old Feb 13, 2019 | 10:15 PM
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Default Thanks very much

Originally Posted by Ahrmike
had the same issue. contacted gene culley at cultrag. He's on the forums and very helpful!
Thanks very much for thee contact info.
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Old Feb 13, 2019 | 11:41 PM
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Originally Posted by rcharrison1
I need to replace the steering wheel positioning sensor on a 2012. I did a search on Rock Auto and GM Parts Direct. Found dozens of "sensors", but none for the steering wheel positioning. I do not have a part #. Does anyone have a good source for me to check (other than the dealer) to purchase online or even possibly a part # if you''ve had to replace yours?

Thanks
I believe this may be a a recall item.
SWPS mine was replaced under the recall
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Old Feb 14, 2019 | 12:04 AM
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Mine was replaced at least once and I believe was failing a second time before I got rid of my 2005. So it's definitely replaceable but something not easy for a shade tree mechanic to do because it has to be calibrated properly. Not sure how that is accomplished but that's what I've read here on the forum.

By the way, my symptoms for it failing were slow speed turns in a parking lot causing the entire car to "freak out" and have all the wheels pulsate with various brakes being applied. I guess the speed, steering wheel position, wheel position and whatever else was affected told the car I was in a spin and it kept trying to correct it. But at 1MPH in a parking lot......!
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Old Feb 14, 2019 | 10:27 PM
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Default Service Active Handling Saga Gets Worse

rvice
Originally Posted by Johnny Utah
I believe this may be a a recall item.
SWPS mine was replaced under the recall
My SAHS woes just got worse. I recently sold the car to a fellow Corvette club member. The car - 2012- was absolutely like new - only 14,000 miles. He wanted to buy it and I wanted a new 2019, so we made a deal. Twice in the last 1.5 yrs, I got the SAHS alarm - no ABS activation or anything similar. After trouble shooting, I felt the issue was with the Steering Wheel Positioning Sensor, but no code was ever thrown. When I sold the car, I told the buyer about the issue. Shortly after he bought the car, the alarm started coming on every time he drove the car. I told him I'd have the issue fixed since it started when I had the car. We took the car into the dealer on Monday. They confirmed a faulty positioning sensor. They ordered the part and estimated $436 for the repair. We took the car back Wednesday to have the part installed and things started going South. Looking at the problem further, they said the wiring in the steering column was routed differently than shown in the service manual and they were unsure why. Also, they said there was a bearing that works in conjunction with the sensor and it was malfunctioning. Either it was spinning and not supposed to or vice versa. Anyway, they said they would need to remove the steering column and troubleshoot more. No estimate, but I'm thinking we're now talking $1,000 and up. I talked with the service writer and told her that part did not fail due to use with so low miles on the car. With the wiring misplaced, I felt something must have been installed incorrectly at the factory or maybe a defective part. Knowing I would have little chance of success, I asked her to talk to GM and see if they would absorb some of the cost. C6's were known to have issues with the positioning sensor. Up until about 2008 or so, GM replaced them at no cost when they went bad. They then modified the sensor, but stopped paying for the repair. Various issues with the sensor have continued on thru the end of C6 production. It's been 2 days and still no feedback from GM, but I'm quite sure they'll take the high road and say since the 3 yr/36k mile warranty has expired, they are not responsible. If nothing else, I was at least hoping they would charge me the actual cost of the part(s) or provide parts at no charge, but I don't expect that to happen. Some might say take the car to another dealer for 2nd opinion. If I do that, I'll already be on the hook for a couple of hundred dollars for what they've done so far - their labor rate is $125/hr. Then when I take it to another dealer, the hourly rate starts again. I had checked several months ago to see if there was a TSB covering this issue, but could find nothing. I have not checked for a recall by running the VIN. However, if you have any info. regarding your repair being done outside of the warranty period, I'd appreciate any help.
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Old Feb 15, 2019 | 04:56 PM
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I know exactly whats wrong. Long read so here goes:

when you said you sold it and the issues started it was obvious: your steering column, i assume, is a telescopic? I also assume new owner played with the telescopic? And I further assume you never used "easy exit" mode on it?

1. telescopic wheel rusts into place from not being moved often
2. as you telescope it into the column, the wrong portion of the column moves
3. this portion hits the back support bearing on the column, pushing it out of its (shitty plastic) mount
4. the mount then hits the steering position sensor that sits right behind it, pushing THAT out of its mount
5. the steering position sensor dangles freely
6. on bumps/turns, the steering position sensor swings, causing all sorts of fucked up ****.

FIX: remove column making sure not to spin the steering wheel so you dont break the clock spring - i taped my wheel to the housing behind it. column comes out with 6 bolts that hold bearings/support and a u-joint bolt. pull off the telescopic motor, spin the gear by hand utnil it starts moving properly - regrease the **** out of the column, fix the broken bearing mount, reinstall.

Its a relatively "easy" fix if you can fit upside down in your car. Def recommend pulling the seat if you decide to do it. I had to do it three times (once to misdiagnose, once more to diagnose properly, and finally to fix with the new part).

PM me if you have any questions. Im 100% sure this issue will occur to MANY corvettes as they age. Waiting for them to apologize and do a recall before people die. When my sensor went whacky, I found out when I was on the freeway - I hit a small pothole that swung the sensor. The car thought I was sliding and locked up the brakes on one side of my car. Almost took out a car driving on the side of me... this was a 60mph issue. REALLY dumb of GM to build it this way.


Originally Posted by rcharrison1
rvice

My SAHS woes just got worse. I recently sold the car to a fellow Corvette club member. The car - 2012- was absolutely like new - only 14,000 miles. He wanted to buy it and I wanted a new 2019, so we made a deal. Twice in the last 1.5 yrs, I got the SAHS alarm - no ABS activation or anything similar. After trouble shooting, I felt the issue was with the Steering Wheel Positioning Sensor, but no code was ever thrown. When I sold the car, I told the buyer about the issue. Shortly after he bought the car, the alarm started coming on every time he drove the car. I told him I'd have the issue fixed since it started when I had the car. We took the car into the dealer on Monday. They confirmed a faulty positioning sensor. They ordered the part and estimated $436 for the repair. We took the car back Wednesday to have the part installed and things started going South. Looking at the problem further, they said the wiring in the steering column was routed differently than shown in the service manual and they were unsure why. Also, they said there was a bearing that works in conjunction with the sensor and it was malfunctioning. Either it was spinning and not supposed to or vice versa. Anyway, they said they would need to remove the steering column and troubleshoot more. No estimate, but I'm thinking we're now talking $1,000 and up. I talked with the service writer and told her that part did not fail due to use with so low miles on the car. With the wiring misplaced, I felt something must have been installed incorrectly at the factory or maybe a defective part. Knowing I would have little chance of success, I asked her to talk to GM and see if they would absorb some of the cost. C6's were known to have issues with the positioning sensor. Up until about 2008 or so, GM replaced them at no cost when they went bad. They then modified the sensor, but stopped paying for the repair. Various issues with the sensor have continued on thru the end of C6 production. It's been 2 days and still no feedback from GM, but I'm quite sure they'll take the high road and say since the 3 yr/36k mile warranty has expired, they are not responsible. If nothing else, I was at least hoping they would charge me the actual cost of the part(s) or provide parts at no charge, but I don't expect that to happen. Some might say take the car to another dealer for 2nd opinion. If I do that, I'll already be on the hook for a couple of hundred dollars for what they've done so far - their labor rate is $125/hr. Then when I take it to another dealer, the hourly rate starts again. I had checked several months ago to see if there was a TSB covering this issue, but could find nothing. I have not checked for a recall by running the VIN. However, if you have any info. regarding your repair being done outside of the warranty period, I'd appreciate any help.
Reply
Old Feb 16, 2019 | 10:21 AM
  #11  
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Default Great Info

Originally Posted by Ahrmike
I know exactly whats wrong. Long read so here goes:

when you said you sold it and the issues started it was obvious: your steering column, i assume, is a telescopic? I also assume new owner played with the telescopic? And I further assume you never used "easy exit" mode on it?

1. telescopic wheel rusts into place from not being moved often
2. as you telescope it into the column, the wrong portion of the column moves
3. this portion hits the back support bearing on the column, pushing it out of its (shitty plastic) mount
4. the mount then hits the steering position sensor that sits right behind it, pushing THAT out of its mount
5. the steering position sensor dangles freely
6. on bumps/turns, the steering position sensor swings, causing all sorts of fucked up ****.

FIX: remove column making sure not to spin the steering wheel so you dont break the clock spring - i taped my wheel to the housing behind it. column comes out with 6 bolts that hold bearings/support and a u-joint bolt. pull off the telescopic motor, spin the gear by hand utnil it starts moving properly - regrease the **** out of the column, fix the broken bearing mount, reinstall.

Its a relatively "easy" fix if you can fit upside down in your car. Def recommend pulling the seat if you decide to do it. I had to do it three times (once to misdiagnose, once more to diagnose properly, and finally to fix with the new part).

PM me if you have any questions. Im 100% sure this issue will occur to MANY corvettes as they age. Waiting for them to apologize and do a recall before people die. When my sensor went whacky, I found out when I was on the freeway - I hit a small pothole that swung the sensor. The car thought I was sliding and locked up the brakes on one side of my car. Almost took out a car driving on the side of me... this was a 60mph issue. REALLY dumb of GM to build it this way.
This sounds like my scenario exactly - many thanks for the info. I do have one question - sending you a P.M. Thanks again
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